Marked
by Emberstrike121
Summary: A new danger lurks in the forest, growing more powerful with every passing day. StarClan is still to weak after the last battle to reach the clans and help them, so the first time in the history of the clans they must face this grave danger alone. Four cats mysteriously appear in ThunderClan's territory, and guide the prophesised cats to their destiny. First fanfic. Rated T for saf
1. Prologue

"Which cat is it?" A blue furred she-cat meowed softly, gazing into a pool of water. Four tumbling kits were rolling around, tussling with each other playfully. One had spiky golden fur that stood up in tufts, another had tortoiseshell and white fur, one had snowy white fur and the last one had light brown and golden fur.

"Lionblaze's daughter." A large white tom meowed. "Sunkit is the representative of ThunderClan in the prophecy." Then he gasped, and shook his head, as if wanting to shake out a bad memory. "Thistlekit is also in the prophecy!" He whispered; his blue eyes filled with bewilderment.

"How can that be? Why are two of Lionblaze's kits in the prophecy when each clan is only supposed to have one representative?" The blue furred she-cat demanded. "This doesn't make sense, Whitestorm!" She lashed her tail in frustration, and put her head in her paws.

"Whitekit's in the other prophecy." A slender black she-cat meowed, appearing beside the blue furred she-cat. "And the four original marked are in the last prophecy, along with Streampetal's soon to be kits."

"Why is this prophecy so complicated?" The blue furred she-cat wailed. "There's the original prophecy, and the three prophecies supporting it, and the dark forest got so much smarter and are going to much harder to defeat." She shook her head sadly. "Are the clans doomed to die such a terrible fate?"

"No." Whitestorm growled. "Not after everything we have been through. As long as the four marked cats prepare the prophesied cats, the clans will defeat the dark forest once and for all!" The blue-eyed tom sighed, looking at his aunt's unconvinced face.

"It has to work." The black she-cat growled fiercely. "My siblings sacrificed themselves for the prophecy. Lionblaze never even saw his kits!" Her eyes gleamed with an uncontrolled fury. "The dark forest went back in time and are going to kill the three. I'll never see my brothers again." She collapsed on the ground, her body shaking with grief. "We have to fight back, Bluestar."

"Thistlekit's going to go farther back in time, defeat Oaklyn and fix the past." Bluestar growled, but looking at her unsure face the black she-cat knew Bluestar wasn't very sure of herself. For the first time in decades, StarClan wouldn't be able to fight back.

"We are to weak to reach the cats, Hollyleaf. You know that as well as I do." Whitestorm meowed. "We can only go on four trips. One to tell each of the four cats in the main prophecy what their role is." A tear trickled out of Hollyleaf's eye.

"Then the clans are doomed for sure." She whispered hoarsely. "I'll never see my brothers or Dovewing again, and our connection with the clans will break, and the clans will fall and crumble to nothing underneath Sol's rage."


	2. Chapter 1

Sunpaw felt the icy breeze flutter past her eyelashes, coating them gently with frost. She felt her teeth chatter violently, and she curled her tail across her back. Her fur was soaking wet, after falling into the lake, and she already started to notice the icicles twining into her tangled fur like a snake. She wished she were back in her den, curled up in her warm mossy nest, but she wasn't back in her den, and it was all because of her brother.

"Thistlepaw! I'm cold, lets go back." Sunpaw complained. Her brother, Thistlepaw just rolled his eyes at her. He was large for an apprentice, with a strong and muscular build, and with spiky golden fur that stood up in tufts, a splash of white on his chest, a white tail tip and dark amber eyes. "Do you want to be confined to camp again?" Sunpaw snapped at him. "Because I don't. Last time I practically died of boredom."

She turned around and started walking back, and she was relieved when she heard the crunch of the snow as her brother stalked mutinously after her. Sunpaw looked at the snowy forest in front of her eyes, how the snowflakes had settled themselves delicately onto each leaf and flower, coating them gently with frost and snow. She looked at how the snow had made itself a thick white blanket covering the ground. She wondered how such beauty could be found when life was such a bitter, harsh, agonized thing.

It was one moon ago and it was snowing as well, when her sister Whitepaw had slipped onto the Thunderpath and got hit by a monster. Sunpaw could remember that horrible feeling of icy claws sinking into her heart and tearing it apart as she saw the limp, unmoving body of her sister. She remembered screaming, and dashing towards her sister's body, her vision already blurring with tears and her paws skidding on the icy ground as she tried to reach her sister. Sunpaw shuddered with grief and sadness and pushed the painful memory away.

Sunpaw spun around and gazed at her brother's face, which was twisted into a bitter scowl. Sunpaw just snorted with frustration and continued padding through the thick snow; her sister's white pelt could easily be lost in the snow, unlike her brother's bright golden pelt and her tortoiseshell and white pelt, which could be seen from a mile away. She heard cats yowling her name along with her brother's, and she flattened her ears against her head in shame.

"Were never going to be warriors at this rate." Sunpaw muttered, shaking her pelt and sending droplets of water and snow flying. "We better clean ourselves up."

"Sorry." Thistlepaw muttered arrogantly, his tone not at all sorry. Sunpaw glared daggers at him, her glare scorched his pelt until the golden tom turned away and started to clean himself up. Sunpaw sighed and wished her brother would be less arrogant and be kinder for once. "It's not my fault ThunderClan doesn't let its apprentices have fun in the snow." He sniffed.

"If we get confined to camp, I'm going to murder you." Sunpaw hissed at him, her tortoiseshell ears flicking with frustration. Seeing her brother just shrug his shoulders dismissively, Sunpaw lashed her tail in frustration and raked a claw across his muzzle, careful not to draw blood.

"What was that for?" Her brother demanded, his amber eyes narrowed in annoyance. "They couldn't possibly confine us to camp again, and you know it." His amber eyes softened. "If they do, I promise you won't get confined. I'll say its all my fault." Sunpaw smiled at him, relieved that her brother did have a soul and wasn't just arrogant all the way.

"Thanks, but I'm not letting you steal all the credit." Sunpaw stuck her tongue out at him before prancing playfully away. Thistlepaw just smirked at her and lunged at her, wrapping his paws around her neck and thrusting her gently onto the snow. Sunpaw batted playfully at his belly and twisted from side to side in an attempt to heave him off. When she finally managed to fling him off she danced backwards and her eyes widened in horror as she felt herself slip, she heard stories of Jayfeather falling off the side of the hollow when he was a kit and almost dying, and she didn't want to experience it herself.

"Sunpaw!" Thistlepaw screeched before dashing forward and sinking his teeth in her scruff. Sunpaw gasped with terror and she felt her heart pound so hard against her rib cage, she feared that her bones might break. Thistlepaw pulled but suddenly he felt Sunpaw slip from his grasp, and the she-cat twisted violently in the air before dropping like a tortoiseshell stone into the middle of camp, and Thistlepaw winced at the sickening thud he heard after she fell. "Help!"

_"Where am I?" Sunpaw asked groggily, standing shakily on her paws before collapsing once again. It hurt so much, it felt like all the bones in her body were broken and they were never going to mend again. "Is anybody there?"_

_"Shush, young one. I'm here." A blue furred she-cat with soft eyes appeared above Sunpaw. "My name is Bluestar." The she-cat rasped her tongue gently across Sunpaw's pelt and got her some water to drink._

_"Thank you." Sunpaw rasped, her eyes fluttering shut. "But why am I here?"_

_"There's a prophecy." Bluestar continued, her blue eyes gleaming brightly. "The ripple will shift the water, the crimson vixen will growl, and the light will revive once more. The swallow must stop the darkness with the new morning's sun, that will cause the gate of life and death to be breached and only the thistle's strong claws can shut them once again."_

_"That must be my brother and me! But who are those other cats?" Sunpaw realized. Icy claws sank into her heart as she realized the horrible truth. She felt small against this huge prophecy hanging ominously over her head, and she wished that she were not part of this prophecy that decided the clans' fate. "What gate of life and death?"_

_"I have to go now." Bluestar purred. "You will have help on your journey. Good luck, young one!" The blue eyed she-cat suddenly started fading from Sunpaw's vision. "Someone will be there to guide you! Do not be afraid of your fate, you and your brother both have a wonderful destiny lying ahead!" Sunpaw didn't feel reassured, instead she felt herself yanked from her dream back into the living world. _


	3. Chapter 2

"How are you feeling?" Thistlepaw asked his sister. Sunpaw was small for her age, with a slender, dainty form, a tortoiseshell pelt with a white muzzle, a white chest and underbelly, white paws and pale yellow eyes. Sunpaw somehow looked even smaller when she was curled up in her nest, and Thistlepaw noticed the kit fluff still on her pelt.

"Horrible." Sunpaw admitted, a grin stretching across her face. "So, how long are you confined in camp this time?" Sunpaw smirked at his downcast expression. "Longer than last time, I'm guessing."

"A quarter moon." Thistlepaw groaned, putting his head in his paws. "I think I'm going to kill myself." Then Thistlepaw gave her a half-hearted smile. "The good news is that you weren't badly injured, and you'll be perfectly fine after a day or so."

"Good for me but sucks for you." Sunpaw teased, her tail waving playfully.

"Oh, no you don't. Even though I explained, your still confined to camp as well." Thistlepaw laughed at her stunned expression, and he threw a moss ball at her, which she easily caught.

"You're a horrible brother." Sunpaw laughed back, before throwing the moss ball back at his face, where it unthreaded itself and wove itself into his pelt.

"Ouch." Thistlepaw meowed, his voice filled with mock hurt. "I'm a wonderful brother!"

Sunpaw padded over to him and nuzzled his fur. "Yup, yes you are a wonderful brother." Then a playful grin stretched across her face. "In the Dark Forest standards!" She laughed.

"Sunpaw, that's enough playing for today." Skyfeather growled. He was the apprentice of Jayfeather, and the gray tabby had barely enough time to finish training him.

Thistlepaw shook away the pang of sadness in his heart as his mother told him about his father's, Jayfeather's and Dovewing's brilliant, but sad destiny. They were destined to save the clans, but when the dark forest broke through and StarClan and the other clans defeated them, the connection between earth and StarClan was severed, and could only be rebuilt if they sacrificed the three. Lionblaze had never seen any of his kits; in fact, he had never even known he was going to have kits because Cinderheart was so early into pregnancy that she didn't even know.

"Bye, Thistlepaw!" Sunpaw called, and the large tom squeezed out of the den, waving goodbye with his tail. Thistlepaw padded gloomily around the camp, and eventually decided he would think about the stories he heard when he was a kit. He sighed wistfully as he remembered his carefree times as a kit, before he got confined to the camp almost every other moon.

He yawned with boredom and changed his mind. He padded towards the apprentice den, shut his eyes and wished he would go to sleep.

_"Mom?" He suddenly felt as if he was a different cat, padding after a dark shadow amongst the mountains. "Momma! Don't leave me behind!" The dark shadow just ignored him, and Thistlepaw felt pain and grief pierce his heart. _

_"Shut up, Oaklyn." The shadow snarled at him. "Can't you see we have to get your brother Norther somewhere safe?" The tom growled in anger and howled his fury to his mother, before turning tail and dashing away. He ran away, and prayed his mother would call his name, but she just completely ignored him. Thistlepaw, or Oaklyn felt himself slip and tumble down the hill, crying and whispering his mother's name._

_Suddenly Thistlepaw felt himself switch dreams. He was still that dark brown tomcat, Oaklyn, and he was listening to a black tomcat growl. "You are the key of destroying the clans. You are going to join RiverClan, and attack the clans from the inside. We will tell you what to do." _

_"Yes, master." The dark brown tom or Thistlepaw growled again. His voice was more deep and mature than before, and Thistlepaw immediately knew that he got older. Wait, he? Or was he talking about himself? Wait am I Oaklyn? Or am I the other cat? Who am I?_

_His thoughts were broken off by the black tom's growl. "Your soul will be put into another cats body. That cat will be-" The black tom broke off, and stared straight at Oaklyn. "Somebody's spying through your eyes. Time to say goodbye, Thistlepaw." Thistlepaw's heart beat with fear as he realized the tom could see him. The tom bunched up his muscles and leapt towards him, but Thistlepaw suddenly felt himself get yanked from the dream and get pulled into reality. _

"You were thrashing around in your sleep!" Leafpaw meowed, her honey amber eyes confused. "You kept muttering these words." Leafpaw tilted her head and tried to remember. "Am I he? No I can't be him because I'm Thistlepaw! I'm not Oaklyn! No!"

"Oh, just a nightmare I guess." Thistlepaw muttered, shaking his head and padding out to the clearing. He took a rabbit and bit into it, but he felt a sense of foreboding. He had almost forgotten his name in the dream! He had thought he was the other cat, Oaklyn or whatever his name was. He never had a nightmare like that before, so he just fluffed his pelt out against the cold and tried to forget about the entire nightmare.

"Thistlepaw, there's something I have to tell you about." Sunpaw meowed softly, appearing next to him. She was still limping, because she had twisted her paw in the fall, but she was getting slightly better. "I had a dream, and we are in a prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Thistlepaw asked warily, feeling as if his mind might explode.

"The ripple will shift the water, the crimson vixen will growl, and the light will revive once more. The swallow must stop the darkness with the new morning's sun, that will cause the gate of life and death to be breached and only the thistle's strong claws can shut them once again." Sunpaw chanted quietly, her gaze darting around to make sure that no other cat was listening.

"So I'm the Thistle, and you're the Sun." Thistlepaw muttered, his mind whirling. "Do you know what were supposed to do, and where we are supposed to go?"

"We have to get Ripplepaw from RiverClan, Vixenpaw from ShadowClan, and Swallowpaw from WindClan and then we have to go on a journey to the gorge to find SkyClan, so that they can help us defeat the darkness." Sunpaw tilted her head. "There was another prophecy including some other cats, but I can't remember what it was."

Thistlepaw's amber eyes gleamed luminously under the moon, and he leaned forward in anticipation. "When do we go?" He growled.

"We go in the next half moon, Bluestar was quite persistent about it, actually. Bluestar told me that she would tell the other cats about it as well." Sunpaw muttered to herself, and Thistlepaw cocked his head in confusion, which was Bluestar? Thistlepaw sighed and couldn't bother to ask his sister about it, so he just nodded tiredly and turned away from her.

"Are you okay?" Sunpaw asked, her eyes concerned.

"I had a nightmare that I was this other cat, Oaklyn. I got confused in the nightmare and I didn't know who I was for a while." Thistlepaw meowed to his sister, his eyes round like moons and his ears flattened against his head.

A snowflake settled itself gently on Sunpaw's head, and the yellow-eyed she-cat tilted her head in wonder. "I'm not sure about that. Maybe you should ask Skyfeather about that." Sunpaw meowed. "I never got one of those dreams." Sunpaw admitted. "But it sounds quite terrifying."

"I'm scared to go back to sleep." Thistlepaw meowed in a small voice.

"It's okay. I'll have Leafpaw wake you up if you start to thrash. Actually, I'm pretty sure she will do it without me asking." A mischievous grin lit up Sunpaw's face. "I think you have an admirer."

"No I don't!" Thistlepaw protested. "And what about Lynxpaw? You don't think I didn't notice the sneak glances he has been flashing at you?" Sunpaw blushed and turned away.

"Good night!" Sunpaw laughed, cuffing her brother gently over the ear before limping back into the medicine cat den, waving her tail in farewell.


	4. Chapter 3

Sunpaw tried to act dignified, but her heart was leaping with excitement. It had finally been a quarter moon, and she was determined not to mess things up and be confined to camp again. Her brother had shared the feeling.

She walked slowly behind her mentor, and didn't speak unless he asked her a question. Suddenly a strong scent of cats shot up her nostrils and she flinched at the freshness of it. These cats had been here very recently, because the scent was not at all stale.

"Pinecloud?" Sunpaw asked softly, angling her ears towards the four shadows hiding in the trees. The mottled brown tom lifted his muzzle and then wrapped his tail around Sunpaw's neck and pulled her gently behind him. Pinecloud flicked his tail at Cloudstorm and Dawnriver, and they turned around and faced the four shadows.

"Who's there?" Pinecloud asked warily, his eyes narrowed with wariness.

"We have been waiting for a ThunderClan patrol to come." An undersized white and silver she-cat meowed smoothly, her voice as soft and sweet as honey.

"Who are you? Why are you in ThunderClan territory?" Dawnriver demanded, her pelt fluffing up and her tail bushing out. "How do you know about patrols, and ThunderClan?"

"My name is Fallencloud." The white and silver she-cat introduced her. "The large black tom is my brother, Nightmist. The two she-cat's over there are my sisters, the dark gray one is Moonshadow and the pale gray one is Lunarlight." She flicked her tail casually; until she saw Sunpaw sitting behind Pinecloud, fear shining as clear as day in her eyes.

"Is that her?" Lunarlight whispered, leaning forward in curiosity. "I never knew she was so young." Sunpaw tilted her head curiously, she felt power radiating strongly off of the four cats in waves, and she felt herself drawn towards them.

"What are you talking about?" Sunpaw whispered; her eyes filled with confusion. The forest's leaves rustled softly, and a leaf floated towards Moonshadow, which she easily flicked out her tail and caught without even looking.

"Where's the other one?" Moonshadow asked, her dark yellow eyes narrowing. "Where's the tom? We have to help him with his destiny, unlike the she-cat he must go alone." Moonshadow completely ignored Sunpaw's question, her eyes glowing with an intense fire.

"What other one?" Sunpaw demanded; her voice raised in anger now. She wanted to know what they were talking about; instead of just hearing them talk about her and somebody else randomly. "Are you talking about my brother, Thistlepaw?"

"A great danger is coming to the clans." Nightmist's dark yellow eyes locked with hers, and the intensity in his gaze made Sunpaw shiver. "And only the cats in the prophecy can save the clans. There is a representative from each clan, but somehow there are two from ThunderClan. We are here to guide you and your brother."

"The prophecy?" Sunpaw whispered, her voice shaking slightly. "How do you know about the prophecy?" She didn't tell anybody about the prophecy except for her brother, and she felt her heart thud in her chest as she heard these cats that she barely knew, talk about the prophecy.

"Wait a second. What danger? Are you guys all insane?" Cloudstorm demanded. "Who are these four cats, and why are you guys talking about prophecies and constantly pointing at Sunpaw."

"The danger coming to the clans is bigger than anything that the clans have ever faced before." Moonshadow growled, her voice fierce. "The dark forest was not destroyed, and is now stronger than it ever is before. But there are another dangers including the fact that another clan has risen. BoneClan, and it is like the recreation of BloodClan, seeking revenge on the clans for killing their leader, Scourge. And there is one last danger. Sol has gathered together an army of cats, and seeks revenge on the three for driving him away."

"Sol?" Pinecloud whispered, his eyes glowing like bright flames. "That's impossible. We saw him leave, and he promised never to come back if we let him go! Lionblaze had pinned him to the ground, and afterwards we all helped to drive him off."

"Nothing is impossible, Pinecloud." Fallencloud's honey sweet voice sang towards him, and her pale yellow eyes sparkled with wisdom.

"Thistlepaw!" Sunpaw interrupted. "He has to go alone? I have to go with him! He can't even leave the camp one night without getting into trouble, think about him leaving on a journey." Sunpaw's eyes were darkened and shadowed with bitter sadness. "I can't lose another sibling."

"My dear Sunpaw. We know you miss Whitepaw, but Thistlepaw is a mature young tom and you have to let him do his role in the prophecy. He has to go off by himself, while you lead the other cats to their destinies." Fallencloud smiled. "Trust me, I know."

"But why us?" Sunpaw wailed.

"I know you went through a lot in your past, never knowing your father, your sister dying, your mother running away, and I know that you and your brother have a tight relationship, but you have to trust him." Moonshadow urged her.

"Yeah, this is touching and all." Dawnriver snapped. "But we have to take the cats back to camp so Ivystar can decide if they are going to stay or not."

"She'll let them stay." Sunpaw growled at Dawnriver, her pelt bristling. "I have to learn more about the prophecy!" The cream furred she-cat looked as if she were about to make a sharp retort, but Cloudstorm slapped his tail across her muzzle and just beckoned smoothly for the four cats to follow the patrol back to camp.

"Do you know your power yet?" Lunarlight meowed, her eyes gleaming curiously. Sunpaw shook her head slowly, and Lunarlight's eyes glinted with amusement at the uncertainty radiating from Sunpaw's pelt.

"You'll know it soon enough." Nightmist meowed, nudging Lunarlight away.

"Why are there two representatives in ThunderClan, and not one?" Sunpaw asked them, her ears pricked upwards with curiosity. She thought these were the most fascinating cats she had ever met; with their huge supply of knowledge and their clan names yet rogue life.

"You and your brother was supposed to be in this prophecy, with you as the main representative. But your sister died so suddenly even StarClan wasn't expecting it, and your brother had to fill in her place, so he got put in the place of your sister, and your brother has to fulfill the first prophecy by going on the journey all by himself, and after he fulfills that one then he can fulfill the other one." Lunarlight meowed, shouldering Nightmist out of the way. Nightmist gazed at her with horror in his eyes, and Lunarlight snapped her jaws shut. Then opened them again. "What? She deserves to know. We were sent here to help them."

Sunpaw couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of her brother being in two prophecies, and her only being in one. But she quickly pushed it back down, as she thought that she was leading the cats, and she was supposed to be the representative of ThunderClan.

Moonshadow's eyes gleamed with amusement as she looked at Dawnriver's stiff body. Sunpaw knew that Dawnriver was convinced that Ivystar wouldn't let the four cats join the clan, but the completely certain look glowing in Moonshadow's eyes made Sunpaw feel as if Ivystar would definetely let the four cats join the clan.

"Are you going to help the cats in the other clans?" Sunpaw asked curiously, her ears twitching. She didn't want them to help the cats in the other clan, and she knew she was being selfish, but she couldn't help but feel a prick of jealousy at the thought of the four cats going to mentor another representative from another clan.

"Were here." Pinecloud meowed abruptly, as if he didn't want to hear the answer to Sunpaw's question. "Come on, Fallencloud, Nightmist, Moonshadow and Lunarlight."

Sunpaw waited patiently for her mentor to give her a job to do. "Sunpaw, you can go find Ivystar." The white and tortoiseshell she-cat dipped her head and dashed up the stony steps of HighStones and found the leader's den.

"Ivystar! Ivystar!" She panted, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"Sunpaw!" The silver and white tabby purred, her dark blue eyes glowing. "You kind of remind me of my sister in a way, you guys were both bundles of energy." Sunpaw was related to Firestar, and so were Ivystar and Dovewing so that made them kin in a way. Ivystar's eyes grew slightly sad, but Sunpaw didn't have time to sympathize with her.

"Thanks." Sunpaw meowed hurriedly. "We met four rogues on our patrol. They have warrior names and are really wise, which is strange. They want to join the clan."

"Sure." Ivystar purred, bouncing down the steps. "I'll go see them."

Moonshadow was grooming herself calmly in the center of the clearing, and she didn't look at all surprised when the two cats bounced down and stood next to her. Fallencloud's long furred pelt shone under the sun, and she smiled up at the leader. "Hi, my name's Fallencloud. Those are my sisters, Moonshadow and Lunarlight, and my brother Nightmist." She meowed, flicking her ears towards each of the cats.

"Should we allow them into the clan?" Sunpaw perked her ears to listen to Ivystar confer with her deputy, Snowflash. The white tom twitched his ears and gave the new comers a look through narrowed eyes.

"How about we let them stay for the night. If they are fine by the morning, we will invite them to the clan. If they are so wise, they might be like Sol." The four cats stiffened noticeably at the mention of Sol, but they returned to normal so fast that Sunpaw thought she had imagined it. Ivystar nodded at that idea, and walked swiftly towards the four cats to tell them about it.

Sunpaw stumbled, sudden exhaustion dragging on her limbs as she walked slowly towards her den. She wanted to talk to her brother before she fell asleep though, but he was already asleep. Sunpaw looked fondly at his soft expression, and she decided not to wake him. _I'll talk to him in the morning I guess. _

Darkness crowded her vision as she felt herself drop into her nest, squeeze her eyes shut and try to go to sleep. She heard a whimper of pain and terror from Thistlepaw, and opened her eyes and saw blood trickling out of a gash on his side. She quickly shoved him awake and his eyes flew open. He gazed at her with eyes dark with fear, and he raced out of the den.


	5. Chapter 4

"Thistlepaw, wait!" Thistlepaw heard a yowl from his sister, but he was too terrified to stop running. Every night he had been in Oaklyn's body, he had either been wounded or forgot who he was, and he could never remember the dream, because he wasn't Oaklyn anymore. The only time he remembered the dream was when he had it the first time, but after that he had started forgetting his dreams. He just woke up, feeling scared, confused and wary.

It had been a half moon since the dreams had started, and Thistlepaw was terrified to go to sleep. He just wanted to run until he reached safety, a place where he wouldn't have nightmares.

"Thistlepaw! I think somebody might know whats wrong with you!" Sunpaw yelled desperately. Thistlepaw skidded to a stop, so sudden that his paws were rubbed pink by the friction. He turned around and faced his sister with wide eyes.

"You do?" Thistlepaw rasped, twitching his tail from side to side in excitement. "Who?"

"I don't know. Just follow me." Sunpaw panted as she finally caught up with him. He turned around and followed his sister's tortoiseshell pelt back towards the camp, just realizing that his paws were going numb with cold and that his ear tips were coated with frost.

When they entered the camp, Thistlepaw looked around the snow-coated camp, with those tiny delicate paw prints creating a swirl of spots, a pattern. There was nobody there that could help him, so why did Sunpaw bring him back here then?

"Moonshadow? Fallencloud?" Sunpaw hissed, padding off to one corner of the camp. Thistlepaw tilted her head, what was she talking about. There were no warriors called Moonshadow or Fallencloud! Maybe she just went crazy. With the thought of nobody there to help him cure whatever was wrong with him, Thistlepaw felt icy claws prick his spine and he shivered with fear.

Sunpaw suddenly pulled him after her towards the corner. There were four cats there, looking up at him as if he were a rare herb.

"That's him." A dark gray she-cat murmured. "We have found the two at last."

"Hello!" A white and silver she-cat piped up, her dappled tail waving in the air. "My name is Fallencloud. The she-cat that just spoke is my sister Moonshadow. My other sister is Lunarlight, and my brother is called Nightmist. It's good to finally meet you at last."

"Whats wrong with me?" Thistlepaw demanded, ignoring the she-cat's greeting and introduction.

"You're bound to somebody." Lunarlight exclaimed in surprise, and then her gaze darkened. "The dark forest did this. They sent a cat back into the past, a long time ago, back when the Tribe Of Rushing Water didn't go to the mountains yet. Them going to the mountains were important; otherwise the clans might not have ever stayed here. Jay's Wing, Jayfeather was the cat that convinced them to go to the mountains, but they sent a cat early before that, when Jay's Wing and Dove's Wing was merely kits and killed them."

"How does that affect me?" Thistlepaw demanded, but his eyes were dark with fear on what the pale she-cat just said.

"Listen." Nightmist snapped at him.

"That cat is the same cat your bound to. He's going to kill your father, and without your father, it's without you." Lunarlight stared hard at him. "That's why. Your role in the other prophecy is to fix this." Thistlepaw's shoulders sagged with exhaustion.

"I understand why I forget my name, but why can I see what Oaklyn's doing?" Thistlepaw asked.

"When cats are bound, its usually for a good reason. So each of the bound cats, during sleep, can see what the other is doing. So basically while your awake, the dark forest and Sol are spying through your eyes." Lunarlight explained to him. "They needed to kill Jay's Wing to change the past, so that the clans would have to suffer a longer journey and maybe not find another new place to live. They killed Dove's Wing incase she would still end up destroying them and the prophecy would change to the power of one, and lastly they are going to kill your father so they can spy through your eyes and so this prophecy gets affected."

Thistlepaw's heart beat with fear. "The dark forest and Sol, why are they messing with the past and not just attack? That's what they did last time."

Nightmist smiled darkly. "But you see, last time, they failed."

"They learned from their mistakes." Moonshadow meowed seriously. "And you have to learn from yours." Her pale yellow eyes bore into Thistlepaw's, and he turned away.

"What was our mistake?" Sunpaw demanded furiously. "We won. That means we didn't make any mistakes." Her eyes were almost black with fury, and Thistlepaw gazed at her outburst in shock. "We didn't make any mistakes. My dad was sacrificed to save the clans, and now you're telling me that he sacrificed himself for no reason?" Sunpaw's voice was raised now, a mixture between a wail and a scream.

"He and the rest of the four stopped the dark forest for a while, but Firestar died before he was meant to. Firestar should have been sacrificed too, but the dark forest killed him. So he couldn't sacrifice himself, and StarClan is still too weak to fill in the gap separating the Dark Forest and reality, and that was the gap that Firestar was supposed to fill in, but since he didn't the dark forest can still enter the living world through the gap." Fallencloud explained, her silver and white tail curling neatly over her paws.

"How are you so calm about this?" Thistlepaw meowed, his voice horrified. His stomach churned and he felt sick, where the clans really prophesized to die such a horrible death?

"Because the prophecy is going to save us." Moonshadow meowed, leaning forward so that her muzzle brushed against Thistlepaw's whiskers. "You're going to save us." She hissed in his ear, the strong intensity and certainty behind her words made Thistlepaw shiver. He couldn't even imagine what the dark forest could do with such a wise and powerful cat like her, and immediately he felt glad that she was on their side.

"What about the other clans?" Sunpaw demanded. "What will happen to them?"

Fallencloud smiled at her. "United the clans will burn through the darkness like a flickering flame, but separate the clans will be doomed by the darkness, the flames extinguished with no hope left to be saved." Thistlepaw rolled his eyes at her.

"Is that the original prophecy, or do you guys just naturally talk in riddles." Thistlepaw snorted, some of his old arrogant self-returning after hearing the clans might have a chance for survival.

"The original prophecy." Moonshadow growled, digging her claws into the earth and leaving deep gouges. "The prophecy Bluestar gave you was only a piece of the puzzle to stop the dark forest and Sol, because as you know, this time they are much stronger. There are three prophecies that support the original prophecy; you are in one of them. Your brother is in two of them. We are in the last one."

"Wait, but if Thistlepaw must go alone, the prophecy that Bluestar gave me… That means that Thistlepaw isn't going to come with us on the next half moon is he?" Sunpaw whispered.

Cold shock ran through Thistlepaw's veins of having to face a difficult journey all by himself, with the dark forest spying through his eyes and his sleep haunted by nightmares.

"No, he's not." Lunarlight meowed. "But he will be there at the end of the journey. He still has a role to play in your prophecy."

"Isn't the gathering soon? Is Ivystar going to talk about the prophecy? Or about you guys?" Thistlepaw meowed. "And when are you guys going to explain how you have so much knowledge to us?" His whiskers twitched in impatience and annoyance as Fallencloud just shook her head.

"We'll tell when were ready." Fallencloud meowed, her eyes sparkling.

"And Ivystar will mention our appearance. But not as much the prophecy." Lunarlight added.

Thistlepaw tilted his head, gazing at the four cats. Lunarlight was the most quiet, timid, shy cat. Moonshadow was the most intense, serious and focused cat. Fallencloud was the cat that was always flirting and socializing, and wasn't the least bit shy. Nightmist was the most mysterious, only telling them about some things and not others. But they were all hidden and mysterious when it came to their past, and where they came from.

"I hope I get to go to the gathering!" A squeal came form behind Thistlepaw, and the large tom leapt with fright and surprise.

"Leafpaw! How long have you been listening?" Sunpaw gasped.

"She's special." Fallencloud purred, then spun around in a circle and flounced away as if she didn't want to say anymore. Nightmist just rolled his eyes and curled up on the ground.

"Long enough to know that you're in a prophecy." Lynxpaw smiled, showing razor sharp teeth. There was something with that smile that made Thistlepaw want to flinch and hide away from him, as if beneath that pretty face there was actually hidden malice. Thistlepaw had never seen him like that; Lynxpaw had always been the most playful cat with the best ideas on games.

Lunarlight stared at Lynxpaw, her eyes widening with shock and… was that fear? "He bears the mark of destruction." She whispered, taking a shaky step back and away from him. "The curse of corruption runs through his veins."

"What are you talking about?" Lynxpaw asked, the smile being wiped off his face and his strange, queer tone disappeared. He blinked as if he had just woken up from a dream, and took a step back as Nightmist bared his fangs at him. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"You said you heard us talking about a prophecy." Sunpaw meowed, her eyes bright with worry. "Then you smiled, and you had this malicious look as if you wanted to rip us apart."

"Then Lunarlight said you bear the mark of destruction?" Thistlepaw spun around and faced the pale gray she-cat, and she sighed.

"I wish I could explain, but I can't." She confessed, before taking a step back and calling Fallencloud towards her.

Thistlepaw purred with amusement as Fallencloud broke away from flirting with Tigerstorm, her eyes annoyed. "What do you need now?" She demanded; she glared at her sister until she realized Lynxpaw was there. She stared at him in horror, and turned around and fled into the forest. Nightmist heaved himself to his paws and slipped calmly out of the tunnel with a single nod to Moonshadow.

"She is-" Lunarlight broke off as Moonshadow slapped her tail across the pale gray she-cat's muzzle. Moonshadow's eyes burned with fury at her sister.

"You can't tell them." Moonshadow growled. "We made a promise."

"Do I bear a mark?" Leafpaw squealed; her high-pitched voice interrupting the conversation. She was only half a moon into training, and she still had kit fluff, a high voice like a kit and the same vulnerability as a kit. "I want to bear the mark of nature. After all, I am named after nature."

Thistlepaw couldn't help but smile at her immaturity, and he flicked her gently on the ear. Moonshadow spun around and glared at the young apprentice.

"There's no time for games, this is serious, kit." She spat, her fur ruffled. Leafpaw looked taken back and Thistlepaw quickly wrapped his tail around her shoulders and kept her from telling. Leafpaw looked pleased.

"Is something wrong here?" Ivystar jumped down HighStones. "Why are four of our apprentices talking to the cats instead of doing their clan duties? And Thistlepaw, your mentor has been looking for you, she wanted to take you hunting." Thistlepaw felt his cheeks get hot, and he couldn't meet the gaze of his leader.

"I'll go hunting." He mumbled embarrassedly, shuffling his paws on the ground and pulling his tail away from Leafpaw. He slunk away unceremoniously towards his mentor's slender shape, she gazed at him through eyes narrowed and filled with annoyance and disappointment.

"Ivystar gave you a tough first apprentice, Ravenfeather." Frostcloud purred; her eyes filled with amusement as she regarded Thistlepaw.

"Too tough." Ravenfeather meowed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Thistlepaw slunk behind them, gazing longingly back at his sister where they were discussing the prophecy and things he needed to know.


	6. Chapter 5

Sunpaw padded out into the forest, watching the snow coated leaves drift and sway gently in the wind as they slowly descended onto the ground. Her mentor's mottled brown pelt brushed up beside her, and he dropped into a crouch, his ears pricked and his eyes focused on a spot in front of him. He waggled his hindquarters and lunged, leaves and snow scattered as he popped up a heartbeat later, his eyes gleaming and with a mouse hanging from his jaws.

"Were lucky StarClan blessed us with prey doing leaf-bare. The clan is hungry enough without you talking to the rogues all day and not doing anything." Pinecloud scolded her. "Pay more attention next time, okay?" His eyes were stern but held certain softness in them.

"Yes Pinecloud." Sunpaw meowed meekly before dropping into a crouch. She tasted the air and scented a vole near her left. She turned around and dropped into a crouch, then lowered her tail close enough to the ground that it wouldn't be seen, but not low enough to stir the snow and leaves. She flattened her ears against her head to avoid them brushing against any twigs, and she waggled her hindquarters before sliding neatly across the ground, before judging her distance and leaping up in the air with her claws unsheathed. The vole heard her and skittered away, and Sunpaw hared after it but it slipped into its burrow before she could reach it.

"All of that time you were confined to the camp, or wandering off, or talking to others, your hunting skill had dropped." Pinecloud regarded her messy hunt with disappointment showing clear in his amber eyes.

"Sorry, I promise I'll try harder this time." Sunpaw murmured, dipping her head obediently. Pinecloud just sighed and turned away, shaking his head slowly and mumbling something to him.

"Go off on your own, and see if you can catch anything worth eating." Pinecloud muttered, his amber eyes full of disappointment. Sunpaw felt her heart sink, she had disappointed her mentor again, and she was determined to catch enough prey to show him that she was just as good of a hunter as any warrior.

She opened her jaws and tasted the air. She sighed as she didn't detect any prey, she had probably scared them all off after her trampling and chasing. Walking with her tail dragging across the ground and her shoulders sagging, she walked towards another section of the forest. She looked forward, and there was a fat squirrel nibbling on some nuts under the tree.

She dropped into a crouch and curled her tail over her back. She flattened her ears and judged the distance between her and the squirrel. She put one paw slowly in front of the other, gently and making sure that she didn't snap any twigs or make the snow crunch. She looked in front of her and flung herself off the ground with a powerful leap, and landed square on the squirrel's back. She quickly sank her fangs into its neck, and tasted its warm blood in her mouth. She suddenly heard a cry of distress, and forgetting her squirrel she spun around towards the sound. She dropped it on the ground and pounded forward, and gasped at what she saw.

"Lynxpaw! Don't do it!" A small cream furred shape was squirming on the ground. It was Rosepaw. She was squirming desperately on the ground, with Lynxpaw pinning her down. His eyes were dilated, and his movements were strange, jerky. "Please! You're my brother!"

"You don't understand, Rosepaw. All those times I cared for Sunpaw, I loved her so much, but then you told her not to like me back." His mottled pelt was bristling with fear and anger, and he had that malicious smile on his face again.

_It's just a phase! He'll get over it! Just don't anger him now! _Sunpaw wanted to scream, but was worried that Lynxpaw would attack her.

"Lynxpaw! It was just a joke, I'm sorry!" Her dark blue eyes were pleading with him. Lynxpaw's movements were jerky, and his voice was sleepy as if he were in a trance. His claws slid out slowly, and he gazed at Rosepaw through clouded eyes as if he couldn't really see her.

"Rosepaw, I'm sorry." His sleepy, unclear voice meowed. "But I just can't let you live after what you did to me." He raised his paws slowly into the air, and right before he slashed them down he blinked twice. His vision cleared, and the smile was wiped off his face. He quickly leapt off his sister in shock, his movements no longer jerky.

"Rosepaw? What happened? Why are you bleeding?" His voice, normal now was high pitched with fear. He gazed at her scratches, then at his claws, which were covered in blood. "No." He whispered, stepping backwards. "I would never hurt you! I love you! You're my sister."

"You were going to kill me." Rosepaw whimpered, her eyes full of fear. "You said that I would pay for what I did to you. I was only kidding when I told Sunpaw not to like you back!"

"I never thought it was your fault. If Sunpaw didn't like me back, it was her choice." Lynxpaw meowed reasonably. "I don't know what happened." His eyes clouded with worry. "I'm sorry."

Sunpaw decided now it would be a good time for her to come out. She crunched leaves and put on an innocent face as if she had just arrived. "Whats up?" She asked, darting her gaze between the mottled tom and his sister.

"Nothing." They both meowed at once. "Were just playing around."

"I heard my name get mentioned." Sunpaw meowed, deciding to take a risk.

"Oh yeah, we were just talking about my silly old crush on you." Lynxpaw lied, turning away from her evasively.

"Oh, okay." Sunpaw meowed. "Anyways, got to go." Her mind was whirling with bewilderment and terror, had what Lunarlight said was true? Was Lynxpaw cursed to sometimes not know what he was doing and maybe hurt others?

She dashed through the forest, and decided to catch another mouse before returning to camp, the thoughts of making her mentor proud popping back into her thoughts. She swiftly got into a crouch and caught another mouse after a bit of chase, then retrieved her squirrel and walked back to her mentor. He gazed at her, approval shining in his eyes.

"Good job." He meowed around a thrush and two mice. He flicked her on the nose, a friendly smile lighting up his face. "That's the type of hunting I expect from you, Sunpaw."

Sunpaw dipped her head to her mentor and dashed back to camp, she dropped her fresh-kill on the pile and chose something for herself. She grabbed a vole and settled down next to her brother, who was licking his whiskers clean.

"Thistlepaw! You know the most strange thing happened today." Sunpaw whispered to him. She quickly told him about what she saw Lynxpaw do, and the spiky furred tom's eyes widened with surprise and fear.

"Maybe what Lunarlight was meowing about is true!" Thistlepaw meowed, eyes gleaming.

Sunpaw finished eating and swiped her tongue over her whiskers, she nodded in agreement. "Probably, I'll ask her about it tomorrow."

"I have to go, I'm on the dusk patrol." Thistlepaw meowed, bouncing to his paws and waving goodbye to his sister. Sunpaw watched him dash off through pale yellow eyes, and she sighed and padded towards her nest.

She curled up inside of her nest, shut her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

_"Streak? Dawn? Arazissa?" A tortoiseshell cat whimpered. She was merely older than a kit, with the rounded face of a kit and kit fluff still on her pelt. "Where are you guys?"_

_"They left you behind." A large black tom with one white paw appeared behind her. His amber eyes bore into hers, and she let out a whimper of fear before stepping back._

_"They wouldn't do that!" She squeaked indignantly at him, seeming to summon up her courage. _

_"There all in a prophecy, Blossom. But you aren't." He leaned forward so close that his breathe stirred her whiskers, and she flinched away from him and backed away._

_She felt the snow crunch beneath her paws as she took a few hasty steps back, away from this strange tom and his strange eyes. She suddenly felt herself slip on a piece of ice and she let out a squeal as she felt herself slide off the edge. _

_Suddenly she felt jaws grasp her scruff and pull her back. It was a gray, white and black tom with light blue eyes, and he was too young to be a warrior. Blossom looked at him with fondness, and she felt grateful that the cat had saved her life._

_"Good job, Storm." The black tom meowed. The tom that saved her life dipped his head and scuttled away, like a kit obeying his mother's command. "Now, Blossom. Come with us, and we will help you get revenge on your mother for leaving you."_

_"But she didn't leave me." Blossom meowed uncertainly. "What if she comes back?" _

_The black tom let out a short, bitter laugh. "Oh, she left you all right. She told me so, she told me she didn't want to take care of you because you weren't in the prophecy. She told me that I shouldn't take care of you, she said for me to leave you to die. But I didn't, Blossom. Because, Blossom, I am your father."_

_Blossom's world whirled around her and Sunpaw gasped and choked out as she felt herself get yanked harshly from the dream into reality. She looked downwards, at Blossom's angelic features twisting into a demonic snarl. _Don't do it. The cat is lying. _Sunpaw was sure that he was lying. No mother would ever abandon her kit like that. _


	7. Chapter 6

_"Jay's Wing!" A broken wail screeched. Cats were gathering around a limp gray body with jay feather blue eyes, identical to Jayfeather. _

_Oaklyn shuffled into the darkness, gazing at the cats through eyes narrowed in satisfaction. Blood dripped from his claws, but he licked the blood off and swiftly gave himself a wash. He slid out of the crack between the rocks to stand in front of the cats._

_"Jay's Wing?" He put on an innocent face, laughing inside at how stupid and ignorant these cats were. Thistlepaw wanted to scream at the cats that he was the murder, but he wasn't in control of the cat's body he was trapped inside. _

_"No. My mother gone, my father gone, now my brother." A pale gray she-cat with green eyes whimpered. Dovewing, Thistlepaw recognized. She collapsed beside him, buried her face in her paws and started to cry. _

_I'm going to kill her next. Thistlepaw gasped as the thoughts popped into his mind, and he screamed as the pain lanced through him. He twisted and gasped, as it felt like his mind was being ripped apart. I hate that she-cat. I have to kill her to finish the plan. That stupid she-cat made us looses our boost of surprise. She deserves to die. _

_Thistlepaw let out a cruel smile, and stepped forward, or rather Oaklyn stepped forward. Then he stopped, and realized there were other cats around. Thistlepaw laughed inside of Oaklyn's body, a cruel, bitter sound. Next time, Dovewing, live while you can._

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around HighStones!" Ivystar yowled, her voice echoing around the hollow.

Thistlepaw shot awake so fast his nose bumped against the ceiling. He let out a yelp of pain and quickly rubbed it with his paws, wincing at the pain. His heart was stirring with fear, and he looked at his nest. It was shredded and torn with pieces of bracken and moss everywhere.

Leafpaw was looking at him with fear in her eyes. Thistlepaw stared at her, eyes amber pools of bewilderment and hurt. "Whats wrong?"

"You… You wanted my aunt to die." Leafpaw whimpered. "You kept saying, Dovewing deserves to die, she made us, the dark forest loose our boost of surprise. I have to kill her to finish the plan." Thistlepaw winced; he forgot his nest was next to Leafpaw. He wished Leafpaw wasn't the one who heard her, Leafpaw was sure to tell her mother, Ivystar, and then he would be exiled.

Leafpaw's paws were trembling, and her tail quivered with fear as she turned tail and fled into the clearing. Thistlepaw dashed out after her, haring pursuit of his denmate. "Leafpaw! Wait. I promise I will explain to you soon, just after the meeting, okay?"

Leafpaw gazed at him with round eyes, and gave him a little nod before dashing towards Maplepaw. Her best friend's ginger and white pelt blurred as she twined herself around her friend, rubbing her cheek against her head.

Thistlepaw sighed and shuffled over to his sister, Sunpaw. Sunpaw gazed at him through worried eyes, but there was something different. She gazed at him through eyes haunted with nightmares and exhaustion; Thistlepaw opened his jaws in shock.

Sunpaw gazed at him sadly. "I think every cat in the prophecy is going to end up being bound." She whispered, leaning against him heavily. Thistlepaw just realized that her fur was matted with blood, and his jaws dropped open in shock. It looked as if she were in a fight!

"Are you okay?" Sunpaw asked him tiredly.

"During my dream, Oaklyn entered my mind and placed thoughts there. I sleep talked, and Leafpaw heard me talking about wanting to kill Dovewing and being part of the dark forest. I have to explain everything to her now. I'm scared, Sunpaw. What if Oaklyn starts to be able to control me while I'm awake?" Thistlepaw whispered. Sunpaw brushed against him reassuringly, gazing up at him with wide eyes.

"It's okay." Sunpaw reassured him. "You won't. The dark forest isn't that strong yet."

"I hope not." Thistlepaw sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"BoneClan's rising." Sunpaw meowed. "My bounded cat, Blossom trains there. They fight with claws unsheathed, and they wear this thing on their pelt, and they have reinforced claws. It hurts a lot, because they don't treat me like the apprentice I am."

"Wait, you can control her?" Thistlepaw exclaimed in surprise.

"No, but I feel her pain and gain her wounds." Sunpaw sighed.

A loud meow came from Ivystar, directed straight at the two siblings. Ravenfeather hissed in frustration and cuffed Thistlepaw over the ear, none too gently. Thistlepaw let out a hiss of pain, his ear ringing as he dipped his head meekly to his clan leader.

Sunpaw just licked her chest fur in embarrassment, but Thistlepaw could feel his sister get hot with embarrassment.

Ivystar stood on the stony cliff, and kicked a pebble downwards. "As all of you should know, a few sunrises ago four cats came to ThunderClan and asked if they can join.

"They didn't do anything suspicious, so we have made a decision." Snowflash announced, his white pelt gleaming brilliantly under the sun.

"Fallencloud, Moonshadow, Nightmist and Lunarlight. You can join ThunderClan." Ivystar meowed. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Nightmist and Moonshadow meowed seriously.

"I do." Fallencloud sang, twirling around.

"I do." Lunarlight whispered.

"Fallencloud." The silver and white she-cat bounced forward, and stood in front of Ivystar. "From this day on, you will be known as Fallencloud! Firehawk will show you around the territory and teach you the warrior code." The ginger tom looked pleased to be paired up with Fallencloud.

Thistlepaw rolled her eyes. "Is her ability like make all the toms love her or something?" He snorted to his sister.

Sunpaw shoved him playfully. "Including you?" Thistlepaw dropped open his jaw in mock hurt.

"What? No way." He yelped. Then he caught his mentor's stern gaze and shut his jaws, gazing down at the ground.

"Nightmist." The black tom walked smoothly over to Ivystar. "From this day on, you will be known as Nightmist! Tigerstorm will show you around the territory and teach you the warrior code." Tigerstorm looked a little disappointed at not being paired up with Fallencloud, and Thistlepaw heard Sunpaw snort sharply.

"Lunarlight." The pale she-cat walked slowly up to Ivystar, her eyes uncertain. "From this day on, you will be known as Lunarlight. Frostcloud will show you around the territory and teach you the warrior code." The white she-cat looked delighted to be able to show her around the territory.

"Moonshadow." The dark gray she-cat walked towards the leader, her eyes alight with an intense glow. "From this day on, you will be known as Moonshadow! Ashtalon will show you around the territory and teach you the warrior code!" The dark gray tom puffed out his chest, looking proud.

"We are not done yet." Ivystar purred. "We will have two new warriors join us today. Lynxpaw and Rosepaw." The two siblings exchanged a delighted glance and dashed towards their leader.

"Rosepaw, Lynxpaw. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your clan at all costs, even at the cost of your life?" Ivystar meowed.

"I do." Rosepaw meowed.

Lynxpaw didn't reply; that horrible smile appeared on his face again. Nightmist and his siblings exchanged a worried glance and stepped forward, but not close enough to disturb the ceremony.

"What are you doing?" Ivystar meowed. "Lynxpaw why aren't you answering?"

"Because my life is more important than my clan." The mottled tom meowed; his voice had the same distant, sleepy tone as before. He walked slowly towards the clan leader, as if he were in a trance. "I don't want to lie!" His eyes were clouded, as if he couldn't see his leader at all.

"What?" Cinderstream let out an outraged snarl. "How could you say that?" His parents looked horrified, and Thistlepaw saw his sister take a deep breath. _Don't do it! _He wanted to scream at her. _Don't open your jaws!_

"He was doing that before." Sunpaw meowed boldly. "But afterwards he always gets better." Thistlepaw breaths a sigh of relief, he was worried his sister was going to mention the Rosepaw incident. The cats let out a gasp of shock.

"I've seen it." Thistlepaw meowed, taking a deep breath before taking a stride forward and standing next to his sister's slightly trembling body.

Lynxpaw gazed at Sunpaw with such hunger, greed and desire glittering in his eyes, that the spiky furred tom stepped in front of his sister. Lynxpaw snarled at Thistlepaw and lunged at him, Thistlepaw grabbed his sister and pulled them both out of the way. Lynxpaw snarled at him, Thistlepaw kicked his sister backwards and dropped into a crouch.

"Give me Sunpaw!" Lynxpaw roared, raking Thistlepaw's muzzle. The spiky furred tom yowled with pain and kicked Lynxpaw off of him. Thistlepaw was about to slash his claws across Lynxpaw's flank, when the mottled tom blinked twice. Thistlepaw quickly redirected his blow and scratched the ground.

"Your back!" Rosepaw heaved a sigh of relief, and quickly ran towards her brother.

"What happened? Oh, no…" Lynxpaw whimpered, gazing at his claws soaked with blood, the clan's horrified faces, Sunpaw's reproachful face and Thistlepaw's bleeding muzzle. "I'm so sorry."

"It was your warrior ceremony." Ivystar meowed curtly. "And you seem to be obsessed with obtaining Sunpaw." A blush crept onto Lynxpaw's face, and he looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Lynxpaw. I won't be able to make you a warrior today, or at least not until you get better."

"I understand." Lynxpaw meowed, his face ashamed.

"Rosepaw." The silver and white tabby she-cat called. "From this day on, you will be known as Rosewing. StarClan respects your loyalty and integrity." She touched her nose to Rosewing's, and the dappled dark red she-cat licked her shoulder. "You will have your vigil tonight."

Snowflash's face suddenly grew bright with pride. "Also." Ivystar continued, smiling at Snowflash's expression. "We are happy to say that Amberleaf will be moving to the nursery with our deputy, Snowflash's kits."

"Fallencloud! Moonshadow! Nightmist! Lunarlight! Rosewing! Snowflash! Amberleaf!" The clan cheered, and Thistlepaw noticed that Fallencloud got the most cheers out of the four cats.

"Lynxpaw." Sunpaw beckoned to him with her tail. She looked at Thistlepaw questioningly, _are you coming? _Thistlepaw scowled and pointed at his tail at Leafpaw. _Got to explain. _Sunpaw smirked at him, before waving her tail in goodbye. "Nightmist! Lunarlight!" She yowled, bounding towards the four cats with Lynxpaw on her heels.

Leafpaw swerved out of the crowd and walked up to Thistlepaw, the spiky furred tom looked at her straight in the eyes, and then swerved his gaze around. "It's too public here, come to the forest with me." Leafpaw nodded, and they walked into the forest.


	8. Chapter 7

Sunpaw led Lynxpaw towards Moonshadow and her siblings. He glanced around nervously, wincing every time another cat shot him a dark look through slit eyes. Sunpaw couldn't help but feel sympathy for the mottled tom, it must be hard to be born with something that other cats were afraid of, and they hated him for it.

"Moonshadow!" Sunpaw yelled. The dark gray she-cat just flicked an ear to show that she was listening. "Meet me at the usual place." She turned around and padded away.

She could hear the exaggerated sighs of the four cats as they heaved themselves onto their paws and followed Sunpaw to the overhang behind the apprentice's den. "I want you guys to tell me, or if not me, then Lynxpaw whats wrong with him." Sunpaw meowed to them.

"Somebody has a crush!" Fallencloud smirked at her. "Or even if it isn't a crush, you care about him a lot." Sunpaw shot a dark look at the she-cat, but she just spun around, giggling and bounded back towards Firehawk.

Lynxpaw opened his mouth to speak, probably to ask if her if what Fallencloud said was true, but Sunpaw shot him such a dark scowl that he immediately fell silent. Moonshadow laughed, it was short and swift and then it was gone. Sunpaw shot a surprised look at the dark gray she-cat, who never laughed, or cried, who was basically calm every heartbeat of the day.

"Lynxpaw has a mark." Nightmist growled. "Like us and also like the other cats in the prophecy, except Lynxpaw bears the mark of destruction, and the curse of corruption runs through his veins. That means that his kin, Tigerstar, after he died converted some of his soul into Lynxpaw's body." The mottled tom collapsed to the ground in fear, and Sunpaw felt horror make her heart skip a beat.

"What? Can it be cured?" Sunpaw asked desperately.

"It's a very risky process." Moonshadow meowed, popping up next to Nightmist. "Only one cat survived it." Seeing the guarded look on the she-cat's face, Sunpaw knew she wasn't going to tell them who that cat was.

Lynxpaw opened his jaws to ask but Sunpaw slapped his tail across his mouth. "Shut up." She hissed in his ear. "Whenever any of the four cats get that guarded look it means that they aren't going to tell you, or are going to get very upset or angry at you if you ask." Lynxpaw gave her a swift nod of agreement.

"Tigerstar died twice, so his soul isn't fully in there, and can't fully take control of Lynxpaw during the periods he loses his consciousness." Nightmist meowed. "So Tigerstar's hatred of Firestar, and Lynxpaw's crush on Sunpaw mix together and form a kind of hatred and hunger for Sunpaw, so whenever he gets unconscious that's what fuels his anger. So he goes into a sort of trance where Tigerstar can kind of control his body, but since Lynxpaw is still stronger than Tigerstar right now, the periods are very short."

Lynxpaw blushed, and Sunpaw felt her cheeks get hot and she avoided his gaze. "Okay." She mumbled. "Is Tigerstar going to get stronger then?"

"No." Nightmist meowed, after careful consideration. "But Lynxpaw is going to get weaker and weaker every time he loses consciousness like that. He loses his consciousness whenever somebody to do with Sunpaw, or related to her is around. The first time was when we were talking about you, the second time was when he was out in the forest with his sister Rosepaw, who convinced Sunpaw not to like him, and the third time was when Ivystar, kin of Firestar and Sunpaw was appointing him as a warrior."

"You know about Rosepaw?" Lynxpaw gasped, his mottled pelt bristling.

"Of course." Lunarlight meowed. "The way the soul split works, are first when Lynxpaw is unconscious, we must get a marked cat that is blessed by StarClan to kill him. If were lucky, the blessing of StarClan and the cat's mark will stop Lynxpaw's soul from leaving his body and he will survive, but if the cat's blessing is too weak Lynxpaw's soul will go along with Tigerstar's and he'll just die as well."

"What kind of way is that?" Sunpaw shrieked. "That's called murder!"

Thistlepaw came back from the forest with Leafpaw, and he gave her ear a quick lick before bounding towards Sunpaw. The cats were discussing in the back place of the warrior's den, where no other cat could see them. Again.

"That's the only way." Moonshadow growled. "It's also best to do it while Tigerstar is stronger than Lynxpaw as well, so the period of time Lynxpaw's unconscious is longer."

"Lynxpaw, you should go now." Nightmist growled, nudging the black tom out of the place. "The more you stay with Sunpaw, the higher your chance of getting unconscious is. Now that you know whats wrong, just follow my words. Try to avoid kin of Firestar, especially Sunpaw." Sunpaw looked hurt, and Lynxpaw gazed longingly back at the she-cat but he padded, head drooping, shoulders sagging and his tail trailing across the ground back to the apprentice's den.

"That was rude." Sunpaw snapped at the black tom.

"We need to discuss your marks and powers." Moonshadow interrupted.

"What marks and powers?" Thistlepaw meowed, popping up beside Sunpaw.

"Everybody here has a mark of the Shadowprince." Fallencloud explained. "I bear the mark of destiny, Nightmist bears the mark of change, Lunarlight bears the mark of Fate and Moonshadow bears the mark of Time. The marks give us powers. Nightmist's power is similar to Lionblaze's because Lionblaze bore a half mark of change, during a battle he changes slightly so that he becomes invincible, and if he wants to change back then he can become hurt again. Moonshadow's power is similar to Jayfeather because Jayfeather bore a half mark of Time. Moonshadow can enter your memories and see your past, she can enter your dreams, she can also show other cats her memories, but she also has foresight, which enables her to see what happens in the future. Lunarlight's power is similar to Dovewing's, because she bore a half mark of Fate. Lunarlight's senses can stretch far out to where she wants them to go, and she can also have swift images of what will happen to a cat if she touches them. I bear the mark of destiny, and Firestar did too, but the mark got switched from cat to cat so many times that Firestar barely got any power when he received his mark. My power is that I can put thoughts and ideas into a cat's head, and can charm them into doing things for me."

"That's why!" Thistlepaw exclaimed. He shot a playful glare at his sister, "I was right. Her power is to make toms fall in love with her." Sunpaw stuck her tongue out at him, before turning around and facing the cats.

"What are our powers?" Sunpaw asked curiously. "And our marks." She added hastily.

"You and Thistlepaw's marks are very different. You, being the main ThunderClan representative bear the elemental mark. ThunderClan's is fire, WindClan's is wind, RiverClan's is water and ShadowClan's is earth. You bear the mark of fire. But since there are four clans, you only have a quarter mark."

"So I can summon fireballs?" Sunpaw squealed.

"Unfair!" Thistlepaw exclaimed, stomping his foot angrily on the ground, a cloud of dust came up and he coughed, squeezing his eyes shut. "How come she gets the cool power and I have the lame one, whatever it is?"

Lunarlight rolled her eyes. "No, you can't summon fireballs." Sunpaw looked disappointed. "You can put fire out, your immune to fire, you can increase the temperature slightly, and sometimes when you fight you can be surrounded by a veil of flames. But your mark must be trained, and that's one of the reason were here." Sunpaw let out a leap of excitement.

"I can be immune to fire? That's so amazing!" Sunpaw meowed happily.

"Yes, but your mark will be stripped away if you use it inappropriately." Lunarlight meowed, then mumbled something so quietly under her breath that Sunpaw and Thistlepaw couldn't hear.

"She gets to become a fireball when she fights?" Thistlepaw exclaimed.

"Yes, but your marks and her marks and all the other cats in the prophecy's marks will be-" Moonshadow slapped her tail across Lunarlight's mouth, and the pale she-cat quickly shut her mouth. "Anyways, Thistlepaw. You bear a full mark of history."

"A full mark!" Thistlepaw meowed, smirking at his sister and saw Sunpaw rolling her eyes at him. "What is my power?"

"You can see a cat's past by touching them, and you can enter the past. Your part of the prophecy that has to fix the past, Sunpaw's in the elemental prophecy and your kind of in it, and then the last prophecy is for us, the four original marks." Nightmist explained.

"Cool. Sunpaw, come here! I want to see your past." Sunpaw just scowled at him before turning away. _Show off. _

"You have to practice your skill as well." Moonshadow meowed sharply. "You can't just go around finding out cat's pasts. It will exhaust you."

"Okay." Thistlepaw meowed. "When do we start?"

Moonshadow smiled, revealing her pointed teeth. "Tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 8

"Get up, lazypaws!" Thistlepaw mumbled something under his breath and he looked up at his sister's glowing face. She was obviously excited to learn how to fight as a fireball. He just gave her an arrogant roll of the eyes before heaving himself slowly off of his nest.

"The one night that I manage to fall back asleep after the nightmare, and have a good dream you decide to wake me up." He yawned. "I was so close to catching that fat vole too!" He shook out his pelt and lumbered out of the den.

He flinched as the bright sunlight slammed against his eyes, blinding them momentarily. "Your fault for not waking up earlier." Sunpaw teased him. His sister's tortoiseshell and white pelt slipped around the apprentice's den, towards the tiny fresh-kill pile. All that remained was a thrush, a tiny vole and a mouse. He stumbled after her, and took the tiny vole and brought it over to her.

A wave of guilt washed over him as he realized that he had been so caught up with the prophecy that he didn't have time to hunt for his clan, or focus on his own clan duties. He looked at his sister standing above him, the gaps between the leaves on the trees making her pelt more dappled than it already was.

"Lets go." Moonshadow growled. Thistlepaw heaved himself to his paws, gave his shoulders a couple of licks and followed the four cats into the forest.

"I wonder what made Moonshadow so intense?" Sunpaw muttered to him. "She can't ever take a joke, can you remember how mean she was to Leafpaw that time?" Thistlepaw nodded in agreement of what his sister said.

"Don't judge her." Fallencloud meowed sadly. It was the first time Thistlepaw had ever seen the she-cat show real emotion, and he stifled a gasp of surprise. "It's been tough on her, having to take care of all of us ever since-" She broke off, shaking her head as if wanting to clear out bad memories of her past.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Thistlepaw hissed to his sister.

"Did she just show emotion?" Sunpaw meowed, her jaw dropping open. "None of those cats have ever shown emotions before! Well at least, never shown real emotion."

"Were here." Nightmist meowed abruptly. Thistlepaw felt himself get hot with shame as she saw the ear twitches from the other cats and realized that they were listening. He slunk towards the black tom, ears flattened in shame.

Lunarlight opened her jaws to speak, swerving a glance over the other cats. They all replied with a gentle nod. "We know you want to know about our past, and that you guys have been wondering about it for quite a while now… And we think your ready, so…"

"Our mother was Iceshadow." Nightmist meowed, eyes filled with sadness and wistfulness. "She was an amazing cat, always playing with us, tending to our needs…" He lashed his tail in fury. "Until the day our father murdered her. Our father was a cold cat, full of so much hunger, greed and wanting revenge on the clans so bad that he would murder his own mate to earn it. Our father was Sol."

"Sol?" Sunpaw meowed in surprise. "But he's so evil!" Thistlepaw slapped his tail over his sister's mouth angrily. _Don't be so insensitive. _His sister looked startled, then realized that she was being insensitive, and dipped her head, an apologetic frown on her face.

"We know he's evil." Moonshadow meowed softly. "Come here you two, I have to show you something. I extracted this memory from my mother's body before she died, or rather; she gave this memory to me before she died. Moonshadow curled her tail around the sibling's necks, and she looked as if she had found something, before Thistlepaw felt himself get jerked out of reality and into a memory.

_"You can't take them!" A white and silver tabby she-cat screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Sol, please. These are our kits. You can't just take them because they all bear the mark." She collapsed on the ground, her black paws trembling with grief. _

_"Each of them bears a mark of the Shadowprince. Moonshadow bears the mark of Time, Lunarlight bears the mark of Fate, Fallencloud bears the mark of Destiny, and Nightmist bears the mark of Change. Join them together, and we will become unstoppable!" Sol hissed, his eyes glittering with hunger. The strength of the desire for power glowing in his eyes made the she-cat flinch backwards, and she knew that she had to stop him from taking her kits, or die trying._

_"I'll never help you. And neither will our kits." She hissed, proud that her voice didn't quake with fear, because she wasn't feeling nearly as confident as she hoped she sounded. _

_Rain was pouring down from the sky, and storm clouds were covering up the moon as if StarClan disapproved of Sol's choice. Rain streamed down, soaking the she-cat's fur. Sol loomed over her, his claws glinting dangerously and his eyes glowing luminously. Lightning flashed behind him and thunder roared and crackled as it shook the earth. _

_ "Iceshadow. Get out of the way." Sol snarled at her, his eyes dark with fury and hunger. Iceshadow shook her head angrily and crouched down to the ground, her tail waving angrily in the air, and her fur bristling. "You're a fool, Iceshadow. You always have been." And with that the tortoiseshell tom that used to be her mate, lunged at her and sank his fangs into her throat._

_Iceshadow glared weakly at him, and slashed a claw across his eye, so deep that even after it healed, there would be a pink scar there forever. "I'm sorry, my kits." She whispered quietly. "Momma's got to go." Her kits were wailing in fear, grief and distress of seeing their mother get slain by their own father._

_"You shouldn't have fought for them." Sol meowed, his face twisted into an ugly sneer. The wound was dripping blood down his face, but he had closed his eyes as she scratched, and he didn't lose the eye. Iceshadow felt a little bit of satisfaction that Sol would never forget her, and she knew that however hard he tried, she would always haunt his thoughts. The scar over his eye made sure of that, a curse to Sol, but a blessing of satisfaction to her._

Thistlepaw suddenly felt Moonshadow drop her tail from his neck, and he hurtled out of the memory. He gasped at the force of his exit, and he winced at the thud of himself crashing to the ground. He didn't know why, but his knees had buckled after exiting the memory.

"I'm sorry." Sunpaw murmured. "I really am."

"Now you know why I'm so serious?" Moonshadow growled fiercely. "That mange-pelt killed my mother." Fury radiated off of her pelt in large waves and she raked her claws across the ground. "I want to fulfill the prophecy, so he can die and my mother can be avenged.

Thistlepaw looked shocked by her sudden outburst, but dipped his head, his world still spinning and paws still feeling shaky.

"Calm down, Moonshadow. You're scaring them." Lunarlight meowed. Her sister looked as if she were about to make a stinging retort, but clearly thought better of it and stumbled behind the pale gray she-cat. "Okay. Now for the main reason we're here, Moonshadow and I will work with Thistlepaw, and Nightmist and Fallencloud will work with Sunpaw."

"Okay." Thistlepaw meowed, following Moonshadow to the corner of the mossy clearing. "So, where do we start?" Thistlepaw heard his question getting repeated by Sunpaw, and he waved his tail excitedly.

"First, you clearly have to settle down." Lunarlight purred, looking amused at his sudden excitement. Thistlepaw forced himself to stop bouncing around like an excited kit, and he managed to stop his tail from waving although it still quivered with excitement. "Now touch your paw to my shoulder, and focus. Think about what you know about my past, and reach out your mind as if you were going to enter my brain."

"Great StarClan." Thistlepaw meowed. "I barely understood any of that!" But he reached his paw out warily and settled it gently on Lunarlight's shoulder. She flinched slightly at the contact and he quickly pulled his paw back. "I'm sorry!" He apologized. "Did I hurt you?"

"No. She just doesn't like being touched." Moonshadow meowed, rolling her eyes. She sat in front of Thistlepaw. "Do it on me." Lunarlight gave him a smile that made her look like an apologetic angel. Thistlepaw reached his paw out slowly and put it on Moonshadow's shoulder. _Her mother is Iceshadow, her father is Sol, and her father murdered her mother. _He settled his mind and imagined himself as a floating spirit reaching forward and touching Moonshadow's mind. He felt himself slowly enter her brain, and he gasped at the pain of squeezing in, and then gasped again at the thousands of pictures of blood and shadows surrounding him.

_Was her past really that dark? _He warily reached out towards one, but he suddenly felt himself get flung out of her brain and back into reality. "Careful." Moonshadow growled. "Handle memories the wrong way and you might destroy them. Or hurt yourself."

He flushed, and turned around to face Sunpaw. She was sparring with Nightmist, and flames flickered on the outside of her pelt. But there were barely any. _StarClan, how are we supposed to learn all of this? _He felt like crying out, but then determination gripped his body.

"When you reach the memory, you can't touch them. You stand in front of them, and picture yourself entering that memory." Lunarlight explained to him. "Here, try it on Moonshadow again."

"Okay. Enter." Moonshadow sighed before settling into a comfortable crouch. Thistlepaw touched his paw to her shoulder, focused on her and pictured himself becoming a spirit and floating near her brain. This time it wasn't so surprising and painful to be yanked into her brain, and he looked around for the nearest memory. He decided to choose a happy one. He pictured himself surrounded by trees and grass, and as Moonshadow.

_"Momma! Look!" Moonshadow squeaked, bouncing up and down. "Me and Nightmist caught you a vole." It was summer, Thistlepaw could feel the cool breeze brush past him, he heard the leaves in the trees rustle slightly and he could also hear the crickets and birds chirp their little song softly deep inside the forest._

_"That's so sweet!" A beautiful white she-cat with a black splotch on her flank meowed softly, rubbing her muzzle against Moonshadow's. "Your such a good girl!" _

"Ouch!" He complained aloud as he felt himself get yanked harshly out of the dream and thrown back in reality, again. "What was I doing wrong this time?"

"You weren't there." Moonshadow growled. "You can't try and feel the things there. You can't try and materialize there. Otherwise you could get trapped in my memory forever. Do you want that to happen to you?"

"Yes, because I totally want to be trapped inside your memories forever." Thistlepaw meowed sarcastically. Then he flattened his ears against his head in pain as Moonshadow whacked him on the head. "Sorry." He muttered meekly.

"Now try it again." Moonshadow meowed. Thistlepaw turned around and saw his sister talking to Nightmist, a confused look in her eyes.

"Fine." He growled, reaching his paw onto her shoulder. He thought of her past, and then imagined himself floating upwards into her mind. The descendent into her mind was still slow, but he almost felt no pain this time. He floated towards a random memory; he was so annoyed he didn't even care if it was a bad memory. He imagined himself in there, in a pine forest, as Moonshadow. He felt himself float into the memory.

_"Fight!" A tortoiseshell shape roared. "You foolish cats! Just because you have the marks it doesn't mean you don't need to learn how to fight!" He sank his fangs into Moonshadow's ear, and she yowled with pain._

_Moonshadow growled with fury and lunged at her father, she slammed her paws down his head and he crumpled to the ground. She sank her fangs into his ear, watching him growl with pain. "How do you like that?" She snarled at him. He flung her off of him, and she thudded on the ground, panting heavily._

_"Don't do that again, or I'll put you in the punishment chamber!" He roared at her. Moonshadow flinched noticeably at the mention of the punishment chamber, and she took a wary step back. "Trust me, you don't want to be put down there. Where do you think Fallencloud went?"_

_Moonshadow let out a low whimper and dropped into a crouch sadly. Her father loomed over her and sliced open her nose. She whimpered and yowled with pain. He snarled at her. "Don't make a sound. It shows the enemy you are hurt." Moonshadow opened her jaws to make a retort, but then she remembered the punishment chamber and fell silent. _

_Sol slashed his claws across her flank, and her torn pelt. Moonshadow whimpered quietly with pain, and averted her eyes from the blood pooling out of her wounds. Her father turned away and slapped her on the face with his tail. "Your done for today. Now go hunt."_

Thistlepaw felt himself descend out of the memory, and he imagined himself floating out of Moonshadow's mind and back to reality. He blinked once, and then saw himself sitting in front of Moonshadow. "You chose a very interesting memory." She growled at him.

"I'm so sorry. A-about what your father did to you." He stammered.

"It's not your fault." Lunarlight meowed sadly. "It was worst for Fallencloud though. Why do you think she ran away from Lynxpaw? Not because of his curse, it was because he looked just like our father, like Sol. Same dark brown furred with swirling dark red dapples, one white paw, a splash of white on his chest with dark amber eyes. The only difference is that Sol doesn't have that splash of white on his chest."

"Oh." Thistlepaw fell silent, curling his tail over his paws. "Do I do it again?" He asked softly. Moonshadow gave him a swift nod, and he reached out his paw onto her shoulder.


	10. Chapter 9

Sunpaw panted with the exhaustion of fighting against Nightmist. He was impossible to injure, and also seemingly to be impossible to touch. "Slow down!" She panted.

"No. The faster we go, the faster you learn." Nightmist meowed firmly.

"That's stupid." Sunpaw muttered, but she knew it was true. Her pelt flickered with flames, and was very hot to touch right now. "You never really taught me how to use the fire though."

"You have to imagine your pelt on fire, and then fight really fast." Fallencloud called out to her. Sunpaw imagined her pelt catching on fire, and then delivered two swift blows to Nightmist, which he easily dodged.

"Finally!" Nightmist meowed. "Look down at your pelt." Sunpaw looked down at her paws, they were coated in a layer of flames, then back down at her pelt, which was dancing with flames and fire. "Usually it wont takes this long."

'How do I get them off?" Sunpaw exclaimed.

"Just stop fighting, and imagine the flames going out." Fallencloud meowed reasonably to her. Sunpaw gave her a swift nod, stopped fighting and imagined the flames on her pelt going out. They slowly went out; flicker-by-flicker her pelt slowly became normal.

"Come on, try again. This time, you have to keep thinking about your pelt catching fire." Nightmist growled at her before sending a blow with sheathed claws at her head. She stumbled at the strength behind it but imagined her pelt catching on fire. She felt herself get warmer, and she sent swift blows towards Nightmist. Then her pelt burst into flame.

"That was excellent!" Fallencloud clapped.

"Can I rest and watch Thistlepaw for a while?" Sunpaw panted. Her two other mentors nodded and she padded over to where Thistlepaw was training.

"Just imagine there being a cave in front of you, you entering it and coming out the other side. While you're in the middle of the cave you have to think about where you want to go though." Lunarlight instructed him, her tail flicking from side to side.

Sunpaw watched her brother take a deep breath, squeeze his eyes shut and pad slowly and warily towards one edge of the mossy clearing. He padded towards it, and Sunpaw felt her jaw drop open in shock as his head disappeared, then his shoulders, then his body, and lastly his tail. She nervously waited for him to come back out.

_What if he gets stuck in there? _Worried thoughts buzzed like a swarm of bees in her head. _What if Oaklyn kills him? _Then she almost collapsed with relief as she saw Moonshadow nod certainly, and a couple of heartbeats later her brother's familiar golden body leap out of the cave and back with them.

"That was amazing! Did you know that Lionblaze was originally called Lion's Roar?" He asked. "And that his mother was a she-cat called Shy Fawn?"

"Yes." Moonshadow meowed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Now try again."

"Come on, breaks over." Nightmist meowed curtly. "Look at your brother, he's almost finished learning everything and you still have one more thing to learn."

"Sorry." Sunpaw muttered.

"Get your pelt on fire." Nightmist told her. She imagined herself catching fire then lunged at Nightmist and cuffed him over the ear, she sent two swift blows to him which he easily ducked and she felt flames flicker on her pelt. "Now get the tree on fire. Its your turn to learn how to put out fire not on your pelt."

"Um. There isn't any water around here." Sunpaw meowed nervously, but leaned against the tree anyways. She saw the flames dance off of her pelt and spiral around the tree, higher and higher slowly but at a graduate speed. "What do I do?"

"Imagine putting the flames out. Imagine pouring water on them, or however you put flames out. Concentrate." Fallencloud told her.

Sunpaw took a deep breath and stared at the tree trunk before imagining it raining, drenching the tree with water. She saw the flames slowly start to flicker and die out. She imagined it pouring harder, drowning the entire tree with water. The flames slowly melted away, until there was nothing left but a bit of ashes from where they burned the tree.

"Very impressive." Nightmist praised her. "I think you mastered that one already. Were done. Lets go back. It's the gathering tonight, and your leader will probably be wondering where you have been. Quick suggestion, bring back some prey."

"Okay." Thistlepaw meowed, appearing beside Sunpaw. He padded back towards the camp, and Sunpaw envied his hunting skills. Hunting for her was going too much more difficult.

Sunpaw sighed and slipped into the forest. She opened her jaws and tasted the air. _Rabbit! _She saw it chewing on some nuts. It was so large it would feed the whole clan! It was a tough leaf-bare, and she noticed the decrease in weight the four cats had lost since they came here.

She dropped into a crouch and slowly waggled her hindquarters. She took one wary step forward, then another. The rabbit suddenly stood up, and got ready to run. Sunpaw lunged at it, but it had already run. Sunpaw pounded after it, gasping at the effort. She suddenly had an idea. She took a tremendous leap and lunged at what looked like over the rabbit, but she actually lunged short and skidded in front of the rabbit as it turned around and dashed straight towards her. She sank her claws into it's flank and dragged it back, before sinking her fangs its neck and killing it.

"That was an amazing catch!" Thistlepaw meowed. He was carrying a blackbird in his jaws, and Sunpaw blushed in pride. "That rabbit's almost bigger than you!"

"Thanks." Sunpaw meowed proudly, puffing out her chest slightly. She grabbed the rabbit's ears and dragged it across the ground. "It's going to get dirty!" She exclaimed.

"This way is easier." Thistlepaw swung the rabbit onto Sunpaw's back, panting with the weight. He picked up his blackbird again and steadied the rabbit if it were going to fall.

By the time they got back to camp, it was past noon. "Wow!" Frostcloud purred. "That rabbit is like as big as you, Sunpaw!"

"Sunpaw! Did you catch that?" Pinecloud exclaimed in surprise, rushing over to her.

"Yeah. She caught it all by herself." Thistlepaw boasted about his sister. "The prey was really smart too! It ran off, and Sunpaw tricked it by making it think she was going to jump over it, and when it turned around she stopped her jump and landed in front of it, then killed it!"

"Someday you'll even be as good as Ivystar!" Cherryfrost meowed proudly.

"Or Dovewing!" Molesnow added. "Or even Sandstorm and Sorreltail!"

"Thanks!" Sunpaw meowed happily. She dragged the rabbit over to the elder's den. Toadstep gave her a cheery little wave, and she smiled at him and dropped the rabbit at his paws. The other elders gathered around the large rabbit, eyes stretched wide in awe.

"Did you catch that?" Blossomfall asked, purring.

"Yeah." Sunpaw meowed happily. "Do you guys need any more prey?"

"Great StarClan, no." Bumblestripe meowed, smiling at her. "This is already more than we can eat! Go get yourself some prey, it's the gathering tonight and your probably going."

Sunpaw beamed at him. "Really?" She purred. "You think so? Thanks!" She pranced around in a circle before bouncing excitedly into the clearing.

"Hey, Sunpaw. Why don't you take a nap before the gathering?" Ivystar suggested. Seeing the defiant sparkle in her eyes, she smiled and added. "That's an order, Sunpaw."

"I don't want to sleep." Sunpaw sulked, but she turned away. She scowled at the ground, still seething with the unfairness of being forced to sleep. She stomped angrily towards the apprentice's den and threw herself on a nest, before curling up and squeezing her eyes shut.

_Sunpaw padded along a withered field, glancing around her. The sky was darkened, and there were red splotches on it as if somebody has splashed it in blood. An icy breeze brushed past her harshly, almost knocking her off her feet. _

_"Save us, Sunpaw." A cat moaned, clawing his way to his feet. "Save us!" He tottered unevenly towards her, reaching out. Sunpaw screamed and clawed herself away from him, as she saw his face. There were large, gaping, empty black holes were his eyes used to be, his ears were shredded and torn so they looked like lumps of torn fur and blood and his muzzle was all pink, small gaps where his teeth and fangs used to be._

_"Go away!" She screamed, her body trembling with fear. Sunpaw whimpered as he reached towards her, and tried to grab her with his clawless paws. "Get away from me!"_

_"Save us." He repeated again, his dull gray pelt bristling. Sunpaw screeched with pain as he pressed his paws down on her neck. "Look at us, torn to nothing. Only you can save us. Make the choice!" Sunpaw screamed as many other mutilated cats appeared from the shadows, and she tore herself away from him, flinging him off and dashing away._

_"Go away!" Sunpaw cried, running as fast as her paws could take her. Her paws skidded across the ground as she tore across the field, and she whimpered with shock as she felt herself slam against somebody._

_"Trespassing in my field?" He growled, and Sunpaw choked as she gazed at his eyes. His eyes were a bright, bloody red and he wore a collar embedded with many fangs and claws, probably the claws and fangs from those cats. He raised a paw and slammed it down on her neck, before curling his paw around and squeezing. "Silly kitty. You should have never come. Now you'll be here forever. He raised a paw towards her eye, and she quickly squeezed them shut, whimpering with fear and pain. Then he grinned and moved his paw towards her ear._

_She cried as he raised his paw, slowly slicing into her ear. She screeched with pain as he dug into her ear, and she thrashed in a vain attempt to get up._

_"Get off of her!" A golden tabby tom yowled. "Don't touch my daughter." _

_"Dad? Lionblaze?" Sunpaw whispered. "StarClan?" Her ear throbbed, and she could feel the blood pooling out of the large cut he had made in it._

_"The brave Lionblaze, coming to save his daughter I see." The black tom smiled at him, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. "Too bad he's going to die soon."_

_"You're going to pay for hurting my daughter." Lionblaze yowled, unsheathing his claws. "Bloodstar, you really should pick on somebody your own size." Lionblaze flung himself at the tom, raking his claws across the tom's eyes._

_Bloodstar roared with pain and flung the golden tom off of him. "You want to fight, little kitty? A fight you shall get!" He sank his fangs into Lionblaze's shoulder, and threw him across the field. Lionblaze just stood back up and slammed his paw against Bloodstar's head, then gasped as his paws turned to sand. He was disintegrating. _

_"Sunpaw, wake up!" He screamed at her. "Wake up, wake up!" Sunpaw nodded mutely, to scared to disobey. She prayed that she would wake up, and she let out a sigh of relief as she felt herself slide out of the dream and back into the waking world._

_"I love my kits. I'm proud of you both." Lionblaze murmured, and Sunpaw felt her heart twist in agony as he faded completely. She wanted to scream, but she was pulled out of the dream, and she saw an angry snarl on the black tom's face as she escaped._

_"I'll find you! Nobody escapes Bloodstar!" He roared at her._

"Lionblaze!" Sunpaw screamed, shooting awake. She looked down at her nest, it was tattered, moss and bracken everywhere. She gasped as she saw red liquid leaking onto her nest, and she felt a stinging pain shoot through her ear.

"Sunpaw?" Thistlepaw asked, peering down at her. "Great StarClan, your alive!" Sunpaw then realized that many cats were crowding around the apprentice's den, and Ivystar, Skyfeather and Thistlepaw were crouched next to her.

Skyfeather quickly barked out some orders, and some cats hurried to get what he wanted them to get. "You were dead." Skyfeather meowed quietly, his voice dying in his throat.

"What do you mean?" Sunpaw asked, her eyes large with fear.

"You had no heartbeat for a few minutes." Ivystar meowed quietly. "Before, you were thrashing around and screaming Lionblaze."

"Your alive!" Thistlepaw whispered, letting it sink in. "Sunpaw, your alive! Really and truly!" He purred with happiness and pressed his cheek towards her head, purring the whole time.

"Thistlepaw, it's happened." Sunpaw whispered. "Lionblaze is dead. They killed him in the past. It will take about a half moon for the three to get erased from the past, and after that happens the dark forest will rise to victory."

"Oh, no." Thistlepaw whispered.

"She went to the land of the forsaken." Moonshadow meowed; for once her eyes were large and concerned. "And she was supposed to stay there forever."

"Lionblaze saved me." Sunpaw meowed shakily, and then the tears started coming. "Then he died. My dad died." She shook uncontrollably and sobbed into her brother's pelt.

"The land of the forsaken. It's a field, and Bloodstar owns it. Bloodstar, the original leader of BoneClan, he was killed by Lionblaze. Over time, cats end up wandering into the land of the forsaken, and Bloodstar mutilates them. He takes their eyes, fangs, ears and claws and leaves them there, wandering forever. They are powerful cats, even without their claws and fangs. He keeps them as an army, because they will do as he tells them. He was trying to mutilate Sunpaw." Nightmist explained roughly.

"That's why your ear is like that!" Thistlepaw meowed frantically. "Quick, Skyfeather, heal it before it falls off!"

Skyfeather rolled his eyes. "Her ear isn't just going to fall off. It'll mend, and she's been coughing up blood in her sleep, so I don't think she's fit to go to the gathering."

"What?" Sunpaw protested weakly, struggling to sit up. With a gasp of pain her knees buckled and she fell back into the nest, complaining and whimpering. She eventually gave up trying to stand, and just stared weakly up at Skyfeather. "But what if he comes again during sleep?"

"He won't." Lunarlight meowed quickly. "Don't worry. When you sleep and go to the land of the forsaken, you usually get stuck there forever, so you never go there again. And since you survived, the first cat actually, you shouldn't go back there."

"Thank StarClan." Sunpaw mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and curling up. Skyfeather got his cobwebs, marigold and oak leaves and he mushed the marigold and oak leaves into a poultice before applying them to her ear. He took honey and then the cobwebs, and then twined them around Sunpaw's ear.

"Poor cats. All of them, in the prophecy." Lunarlight meowed sympathetically, and then slapped her tail across her mouth in shock as she realized Skyfeather and Ivystar had whipped their heads around. "I said poppy." She meowed lamely.

"Prophecy?" Ivystar meowed, her eyes stretching wide in shock.

"What prophecy?" Skyfeather asked.

"There are four. Three supporting the main one." Thistlepaw meowed to his leader, eyes full of guilt on not telling her earlier. "_United the clans will burn through the darkness like a flickering flame, but separate the clans will be doomed by the darkness, the flames extinguished with no hope left to be saved_."

"Thistlepaw is in two of them." Lunarlight opened her jaws and began to recite. "_The ripple will shift the water, the crimson vixen will growl, and the light will revive once more. The swallow must stop the darkness with the new morning's sun, that will cause the gate of life and death to be breached and only the thistle's strong claws can shut them once again_."

"You never did tell me the other prophecy." Thistlepaw meowed accusingly. Fallencloud just rolled her eyes and flicked her tail on his spine gently, amusement flowing off of her in waves.

"_Blood splashes against the shore, darkness clouded the sky, and only the one bound to shadows can fix the past, but by doing so he must defeat himself." _Fallencloud recited.

"Defeat myself? What do you mean?" Thistlepaw asked.

Fallencloud smiled sadly at him. "After you fix the past, you must kill your bind. By killing your bind you will be weakened severely so, and you will only be able to fulfill your part in the other prophecy before…" She trailed off, eyes filling up with tears.

"I die." Thistlepaw replied angrily. "That's it? You've been raising me as if I were a squirrel, after I fatten up you just kill me and eat me." Angry tears spilled out of his eyes. "I have a life in ThunderClan." Almost as if he couldn't help it, he glanced back out the entrance and his eyes flashed towards Leafpaw. "I want to be a father. Maybe even the leader someday. All that is going to be taken away from me."

"But don't I have a bind?" Sunpaw mumbled, rousing from her sleep. "Blossom?"

"You aren't fully bounded to her. You just feel her pain, gain her wounds and when you sleep you see through her eyes." Moonshadow told her. "Your brother, he forgets who he is in his dreams, his thoughts mix with Oaklyn's." Moonshadow's eyes grew wet. "Oaklyn and him have become one. They are the same cat. Only Oaklyn is the bad side, and Thistlepaw is the good side. But if one of them kills the other, they both die in the end. But Thistlepaw must win, because he has a second prophecy to fulfill."

"Thistlepaw's going to die?" Sunpaw shrieked. "No." She turned around and glared at the dark gray she-cat. "I lost everyone I loved." Her voice cracked with grief. "My sister, my mother, my father and now my brother? Why is StarClan so cruel?"

"Do you remember what Bluestar said to you, the first time you heard of the prophecy? You both have great destinies." Nightmist smiled at her. "You both have brilliant destinies, and you will be remembered forever because of that. But remember, you and your brother have very different destinies. And Sunpaw, you have to accept that."

"It's time for the gathering." Ivystar meowed abruptly, but Sunpaw could see something glistening in her eyes. "Sleep well, Sunpaw. Come on Thistlepaw, Moonshadow, Lunarlight, Nightmist and Fallencloud. You guys are all going to the gathering."

"Good night." Thistlepaw meowed sadly.


End file.
